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On October 31st, The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) Canada presented before the House of Commons Finance Committee. The Committee is hearing from a range of stakeholders across Canada in preparation for the 2012 federal budget. NMMA Canada was pleased to be invited to present before the Committee to discuss the recreational boating industry’s key challenges and future opportunities and how government can play a role.

Jeff Wilcox at George’s Marine & Sport has created an extremely successful leads management program at his dealership and is very glad that he took the gamble!  Jeff took the time to chat with me about this and will be on hand at the Boating Ontario Conference on December 5th to introduce Dr. John Mlinarcik from PCS-Global, the man who helped him set up his CRM (Customer Relationships Management) Department.

Jeff is always on the lookout for opportunities and practices in other industries that are successful.

Lowrance,has announced its limited-time Weekend Getaway Sales Event providing cash rebates on its Mark & Elite fishfinder/ chartplotter products and award-winning High Definition System (HDS) multifunction displays. Beginning October 28 and continuing through February 12, 2012, rebates are available to consumers who purchase qualified Lowrance marine electronics from an authorized dealer in Canada or the US. The rebates range from $10 to $200 depending on the specific product.

Boating Industry Canada has learned that Canadian boat builder Erich Bruckmann passed away on October 28, 2011.

Erich was born in Dusseldorf Germany in 1930. He left Germany as a young man in 1956 to start a new life with his devoted wife and first son Peter. Within a year of arriving in Canada Erich began what would be a lifelong career as a boat builder. He was at the forefront of the yachting industry in the 1960's and 70's as one of the founding partners of C & C Yachts. Through hard work Erich was fortunate enough to be able to retire at an early age and spent many years enjoying life and travelling with Lisa, especially hiking in his favourite Austrian Alps.

By mid-afternoon on October 31st, the final day of the 2011 Canadian Marine Trade Show, the exhibitors were smiling and some were reporting surprisingly positive results. In the Humminbird display, Richard Yantha and John Noel reported that their sales were ahead an amazing 45% over the previous year. “We’re having a great show!” commented John Noel. “All our Canadian shows have been up though. I’d say our industry is really up because the dealers had a great summer and the new orders are a response to that. Generally, |marine electronics seems to be doing well.”

Rob Edwards from Coast Distribution System Inc., was showing a very interesting line of portable marine generators that deliver sine wave power.

While five other community groups won regional awards of $4,500 each in a ceremony Thursday, October 28th at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the Rozalia Project For A Clean Ocean received a $20,000 check from Interlux® as the national winner of the 2011 Interlux Waterfront Challenge.

The Vermont-based Rozalia Project For A Clean Ocean utilized a state-of-the-art, remote operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to assist nearly 1,400 people to remove over 4,400 pieces of marine debris from the sea floor in eight locations throughout New England. “We’re incredibly thrilled to receive this generous award from Interlux,”

The team at CC Marine lead by Charlie Bulmer is excited to welcome industry veteran Rick Koopman to its sales force. Rick who hails from Langley, BC will bring his 35 years in sales, many in the marine industry, will introduce the CC Marine product line up to the British Columbia market including some that have not been previously assessable to the western market. Beside the marine market, Rick will cover the RV, automobile and industrial markets for CC.

Boating Industry Canada was among a group of perhaps a dozen journalists who were invited to a sneak preview of the new West Marine Fort Lauderdale Boating Superstore that opens to the public on November 11.

Lynn Ferguson, chief marketing officer for West Marine welcomed the press to this preview of the nearly complete store. At 50,000 ft.², he describes the new superstore as being 3 times the size of their current flagship stores and 5 to 6 times the size of their conventional West Marine retail outlets.

Ferguson said that the decision to create this new store superstore was driven by consumer input.

It has been announced that efforts are underway to resume operations at boat builders Baja Marine, Donzi Marine, Fountain Powerboats and ProLine Boats, according to Ronald Glass, a Principal  in GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group, LLC. Glass, who is headquartered in Atlanta, has been named temporary receiver of the four boat builders and their assets, along with Palmetto Park Financial, by North Carolina Business Court Judge James Gale.

Because of this, none of the four boat builders were exhibitors at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show although some Fountain and ProLine dealers were showing boats at FLIBS.

Boating Industry Canada has learned of a new website from Michigan that is part of an effort to maintain and increase awareness of the threat that Asian carp pose to the Great Lakes fishing, boating and tourism industries.

The organization, stopthecarpnow.org supports the permanent closing of the Chicago Sanitary Canal to stop the spread of these invasive species however, in the Part 1 and Part 2 video clips (on their home page) it notes that there are rumors of Asian Carp being deliberately released into the Great Lakes for good luck.

By midafternoon on Saturday, October 29, the 3rd day of Fort Lauderdale international Boat Show, thunderstorms and steady rain sent the weekend crowd scrambling for shelter.

You would expect that the weekend crowds would be the heaviest, but perhaps the weather forecast was a factor. Thursday and Friday were significantly busier with lineups and heavy crowds everywhere you went in the show.  By comparison, Saturday morning was noticeably less busy.

To get a read on the preliminary business results, Boating Industry Canada sought out comments from several Canadians who were working at the show.

The 52nd annual Fort Lauderdale international boat show opened on a positive note as Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of Show Management welcomed a roomful of dignitaries and press to celebrate the opening day.

Jack Seiler, Mayor of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Steve Moynihan, founder and president of HMY Yachts, James Currie, Director of Federal Legislative Affairs for the National Marine Manufacturers Association, Paolo Vitelli, Chairman of the Azimut Benetti Group and Theo Hooning, Secretary-General for SYBAss, made up of panel of speakers.

Ogilvy & Ogilvy is proud to welcome Dennis Ryerson to the Recreational Marine Division at their Toronto Office. Dennis brings over 30 years of experience to Ogilvy & Ogilvy.  A genuine boating enthusiast, Dennis has been involved in the power boat market as a factory representative while with Mercury Marine and as a participant. Operating numerous high performance boats over the years and participating in Poker Run events has afforded Dennis the opportunity to understand the insurance needs of the Recreational Marine Insurance market from the ground up.

The Boating Ontario Trade Show is a four hour focused event that brings together Ontario’s recreational marine industry.  This Show has been a part of Boating Ontario (previously known as Ontario Marine Operators Association) for over 20 years.  It is no surprise that when we changed the date of the Trade Show to the middle day of the Boating Ontario Conference from the last day that a few people were confused!

So, for all of those exhibitors that have been part of the Trade Show for years – the 2011 Trade Show will be on the MONDAY.  More specifically, it will be on Monday December 5, 2011 from 1pm – 5pm.

At The Lake (ATL)Distributing, wholesale distributor of marine products and water toys including Shoremaster Docks, Future Beach Recreational Products, AquaGlide Inflatable Water Toys,  and Paluski Boats,  is pleased to announce the hiring of their new sales representative  for Quebec and Eastern Canada, Dave Gariepy.  Dave’s bilingual experience in the marine industry along with his commitment to excellent customer service will be a major asset to the ATL Sales Team.

Dave was born, raised, and still lives on the Island of Montreal, QC.

Based upon postings on YACHTWORLD.COM, Freedom Marine in British Columbia has the greatest number of used pleasure craft listings over 50’ in Canada.

“Our vision during the economic downturn has been to grow without overspending” said company president Don Young. “Emerging as Canada’s largest in this category is a testament to our client focused team”.

Since 2009, Freedom Marine has grown from 1 office to 3 with a team of 7 salespeople and 2 support staff.

Boating Industry Canada was in Louisville, Kentucky for the 21st IBEX, International BoatBuilder’s Exhibition and Conference and we interviewed Thom Dammrich, president of the NMMA about the show and the American boat market. The NMMA manages IBEX in partnership with Professional BoatBuilder magazine. Click here to view the video of Thom Dammrich’s comments:

On Friday October 7th Buckeye Marine hosted its annual Product Preview & Charity Event on site at their dryland facility just outside of Bobcaygeon. The event is hosted annually on the Friday night of the Thanksgiving weekend to raise money and awareness for a specific charity while allowing clients the chance to see what’s new for the upcoming boating season. This year Buckeye recognized the Kawartha North Family Health Teams efforts to fund a walk in clinic as the worthy recipient.

“The Kawartha North Family Health Team is not only a resource for the local communities of Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls but a walk-in clinic in these locations will act also as the closest medical facility for many of our seasonal residence and Buckeye clients.